GCYFRGhttps://gcyfrg.wordpress.com
Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 12:23:11 +0000 en
hourly
1 http://wordpress.com/https://secure.gravatar.com/blavatar/4079fdbad0e1d3497c738add54b7b0bb?s=96&d=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fbuttonw-com.pngGCYFRGhttps://gcyfrg.wordpress.com
GCYFRG Grant Writing Workshop January 2019https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/11/02/gcyfrg-grant-writing-workshop-january-2019/
Fri, 02 Nov 2018 11:14:19 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=801Continue reading →]]>GCYFRG are delighted to announce a grant writing workshop to be held on Thursday 10th January 2019 at Lancaster University. The day-long workshop will bring together researchers with a variety of experience applying for grants big and small, local and national in the fields of children, youth and families. Participants will get involved in knowledge and idea sharing, and hopefully take away ideas about new sources of funding and gain top tips for writing successful grant applications. The day will also include a ‘research speed dating’ session where you can share your ideas for future projects, and perhaps find someone who’d like to collaborate. The event is open to all, with a particular focus on the needs of early career geographers. No prior experience of grant applications or capture is required.

Details

* Date and Time: Thursday 10th January, 10.30am-4pm

* Venue: Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University

* Cost: £10, to include lunch and refreshments.

* Transport: Lancaster University is a campus university situated between Lancaster and the M6 motorway – there is parking on site and a regular bus between the university and Lancaster train station. There is also a taxi rank at the train station.

* Participation: This is a participatory workshop – participants will be asked, where relevant, to share their knowledge and experience in exchange for the knowledge and experience of others (no prior experience is required though!).

]]>gcyfrgGCYFRG Writing Retreat in July 2019https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/10/03/gcyfrg-writing-retreat-in-july-2019/
Wed, 03 Oct 2018 17:43:22 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=795Continue reading →]]>As a research group, we are delighted to announce that we will be hosting our first writing retreat in July 2019.

The GCYFRG has organised a writing retreat for the summer of 2019. This retreat is open to all members of the research group at all career stages and aims to provide a friendly environment for academic writing on the geographies of children, youth and families.

The retreat will be limited to 16 attendees and places are on a first come, first served basis. We hope to cover the costs of four PhD students (further details below). Whether you are working on chapter drafts of your PhD, your first or thirty-first paper, or a grant, big or small, we welcome participants from all career stages for a week of dedicated writing and thinking space in a supportive community.

Details:

Date: Monday 8th– Friday 12thJuly 2019 (arrival and departure times to be confirmed, likely to be after 3pm on Monday and before 10am on Friday)

Location: A central location in the UK, close to Stow on the Wold (postcode: GL54 1ER)

Accommodation: All participants will have their own bedroom.

Writing spaces: There is ample space to write with full use of an adjoining conference facility.

Other activities: The venue has a tennis court, games room and easy access to walks in the Cotswolds.

Travel: Road and rail access (nearest station is Moreton-in-Marsh, pick-ups or taxis from the station can be arranged). Participants will have to cover their own travel expenses.

Food: All meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are covered in the cost. Group cooking teams will be allocated closer to the event – each team will be responsible for cooking one evening meal for the group. Please send any dietary requirements in your confirmation of interest email. We may go for a pub dinner on the final evening, which will be an extra cost to participants.

Structure of the retreat: It is expected that all participants will solely focus on writing for the retreat, although leisure time will also be strongly encouraged to balance out the writing! It will be a relaxed and supportive environment conducive to writing.

Writing workshop:

As part of the retreat we are delighted that Professor Peter Kraftl (University of Birmingham) and Dr. Sarah Hall (University of Manchester) will be joining us to run a workshop on writing and publishing in the field of children, youth and families. This workshop will be on Tuesday afternoon and will be optional to participants.

Price:

Total cost per participant is £160(including accommodation, food and writing workshop)

To secure your place, please send an email to a.hadfield-hill@bham.ac.ukby 3rd November, 2018. Once your place is confirmed, you will be asked to make a £50 deposit to GCYFRG within 14 days of receiving confirmation to secure your place.

The final payment is needed by: 1stApril, 2019.

Bursaries:

We are hoping that 4 bursaries will be available for PhD students, although this will not be confirmed until November. If you would like to be considered for one of these potential bursaries, please send the following information in your confirmation of interest email:

a) Your full name and institutional affiliation

b) Year of PhD programme and whether PhD is funded

c) 250 word abstract of your PhD research

If you would like to be considered for one of the four potential bursaries, you will need to email this information to s.a.hadfield-hill@bham.ac.ukby 3rd November, 2018. Allocation of bursaries will be decided by the GCYFRG committee.

Eligibility:

The writing retreat is open to all members of GCYFRG. If you are on our mailing list, but not yet a member of the research group, please see our website for more information about membership and details of how to join: https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/membership/

If you have any questions, please email the retreat organisers Dr. Sophie Hadfield-Hill (s.a.hadfield-hill@bham.ac.uk) and Dr. Catherine Walker (Catherine.walker-2@manchester.ac.uk).

]]>gcyfrgAnnual General Meeting and Invitation for the Election of Committee Roleshttps://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/06/18/annual-general-meeting-and-invitation-for-the-election-of-committee-roles/
Mon, 18 Jun 2018 10:07:52 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=784Continue reading →]]>The AGM of the Geographies of Children, Youth & Families Research Group (GCYFRG) of the RGS-IBG will be at the Annual Conference in Cardiff on Thursday 30th August at 13.10-14.25. All are welcome! Please do get in touch if you would like to attend our AGM but are not a registered conference delegate, as some guest passes can be issued for those wishing to attend.

Ahead of our AGM, we now have an open invitation for the election of two named committee roles – Chair and Education Officer – as the current post holders complete their terms. These positions are both three-year appointments in the first instance, with the possibility of standing for a further three years at the end of that term. Short role descriptions are below to advise potential candidates, but both current post holders (Sarah Mills – Chair S.Mills@lboro.ac.uk ; John McKendrick – Education Officer J.McKendrick@gcu.ac.uk) are happy to receive questions or informally discuss the roles. Please note, for the position of Chair, nominees must be Fellows of the RGS-IBG and further details are available on the website re: membership.

Nominations for election must be made in writing (e-mail), to the current Secretary (Catherine Walker – catherine.walker-2@manchester.ac.uk) with details of two nominators, whose nominations we will verify in advance, should you or they not be able to attend the AGM. Nominators need not be Fellows of the RGS-IBG or be existing members of the GCYFRG committee. Nominations must be made by Friday 17th August 2018. Any questions, please do get in touch.

We are also advertising for a new Postgraduate Liaison Officer for 2018/9. These are usually one year posts, and our thanks to Rachel Searcy for her contributions during 2017/8. A second officer is being appointed to join Amy Mulvenna who will stand for a second and final term in 2018/9. We welcome invitations via the same route as above, and all nominations must be made by the same deadline – Friday 17th August. These post-holders need not be RGS Postgraduate Fellows. Again, any questions, please do get in touch.

Short Role DescriptionsChair of GCYFRG

Chairing the AGM and working with the Research Group Secretary to produce meeting agendas, agree minutes, and communicate effectively with the RGS-IBG, GCYFRG committee, and membership

Contributing to the Annual Report and other central RGS-IBG processes as required, including co-ordinating Research Group nominations to RGS-IBG calls i.e. REF panel nominations, Medals & Awards

A central point of contact for GCYFRG committee members and assisting relevant personnel with initiatives, events and activities as needed (i.e. co-organising workshops; co-writing research group grant applications)

Attending Research Group Committee meetings and other associated events at the RGS-IBG offices (2-3 times per year)

Ensuring the Research Group complies with GDPR regulations as advised by the RGS-IBG

Education OfficerThe role of Education Officer is to develop GCYFRG’s burgeoning interest in research-informed teaching and teaching related activities. The post is relatively flexible as activities are led by the interests of the post-holder and the Research Group membership. However, the main responsibilities are likely to be:

Keeping the research group membership updated with developments and opportunities for teaching on GCYF

Liaising with other committee members about the education-related interests of the RG membership and proposing/organising workshops and training in response to these interests

Encouraging the involvement of undergraduate and postgraduate members in RG activities

Postgraduate Liaison Officer

This role involves liaison with the RGS-IBG Postgraduate Forum, as well as working with the wider GCYFRG Committee to develop opportunities and resources that support postgraduate students and research

Along with all the GCYFRG committee, our postgraduate members are invited to mark an undergraduate dissertation as part of our annual prize

Our officers are encouraged to introduce new initiatives i.e. in the past these have included twitter hour reading discussions; workshops; panels at IBG conference etc.

]]>gcyfrgOut now: our first PGR GCYFRG newsletter!https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/out-now-our-first-pgr-gcyfrg-newsletter/
https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/out-now-our-first-pgr-gcyfrg-newsletter/#respondTue, 27 Feb 2018 11:10:32 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=762The newsletter features an interview with our chair Dr Sarah Mills, workshop and recent events reports and some hints and tips for those of us who struggle sometimes with writing. You can download the newsletter here: Newsletter Issue 1/2018
]]>https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/02/27/out-now-our-first-pgr-gcyfrg-newsletter/feed/0gcyfrgReport on Successful Teaching GCYFRG Workshop on 10th January 2018: Educating under- and post-graduate geographers for/about/using the geographies of children and youthhttps://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/report-on-successful-teaching-gcyfrg-workshop-on-10th-january-2018-educating-under-and-post-graduate-geographers-for-about-using-the-geographies-of-children-and-youth/
https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/report-on-successful-teaching-gcyfrg-workshop-on-10th-january-2018-educating-under-and-post-graduate-geographers-for-about-using-the-geographies-of-children-and-youth/#respondSun, 28 Jan 2018 11:20:52 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=757Continue reading →]]>Thinking, connecting, and reflecting

Bring a group of Geographers and Educationalists together to talk about pedagogy on a chilly Wednesday morning in early January, and one might not expect rousing enthusiasm. And yet, the energies and ideas that coalesced at this teaching workshop on 10th January surpassed possibly even organiser John McKendrick’s expectations! This RGS-IBG sponsored workshop welcomed academic (teaching) staff, early career researchers and postgraduates – both within the field and beyond – to a day-long event encompassing various presentations, discussions, Q&A; and, happily, a field trip.

John (Glasgow Caledonian University) welcomed the group with a round of Bingo that played to our eclectic interests (and eccentricities!), neatly foregrounding the point that we carry these differences through our teaching practice. Addressing the teaching of children and youth geographies in the UK and Ireland specifically, John discussed recent statistical analyses that presents geographies of children and youth as increasingly ‘on the map’ in HE institutions. Once a niche sub-discipline, John stressed that growing interdisciplinary visibility warrants in depth and nuanced attention to both teaching and learning and assessment at HE level.

With this in mind, Joe Hall (Brighton University) then introduced us to a design model for a children’s geographies module. Several innovations were noted, not least the move from standard lecture formats towards role-play to motivate questioning and discussion between undergraduates and lecturers (e.g. what makes ‘good’ and ‘bad’ ethics in research with children and youth?)

Sympathetic to the demands and strictures of HE timetabling, Matt Finn (University of Exeter) next asked us to think about opportunities for ‘mainstreaming’ specific children’s geographies sessions within undergraduate Geography modules more broadly; an approach that might arguably lend itself to a more inclusive HE curriculum. Sophie Hadfield-Hill echoed this sentiment where she explained the efforts of colleagues at University of Birmingham to embed non/more-than-representational theory and methodologies throughout their teaching of children and youth geographies.

The ensuing ‘breakout’ session proved a productive time for reflection, as we scurried to various corners of the room to share and conceive of novel teaching approaches that might be usefully deployed by our colleagues. Discussions around the use of TV and film, picture books and children’s literature to elucidate key concepts proved fascinating. Playing with mediums for/of (re)presentation was a popular discussion point, too. Colleagues suggested that students might make use of more visual techniques and strategies to explore and critique stereotypes of youth and tropes of childhood. Indeed, with the increasing trend from formal to horizontal assessments, and with focus on student-centred learning, creative approaches such as these yield much scope.

Tara Woodyer’s presentation was an apt and insightful follow up, as she explained the creative (re)thinking of the use of student blogs in teaching and assessment of children’s geographies at the University of Portsmouth. Contemporary job markets demand much of students, explained Tara, not least in terms of digital literacy. Experimenting with different modes of assessment and approaches to communication, this innovative model not only foregrounds student-centred learning, but also an interactive and motivated approach to knowledge (co)-production, exchange, and shaping of ideas. Check out the following examples of students’ blogging:

Relational approaches to teaching primary Geography with the UK and Ireland were the focus for both Susan Pike (Dublin City University), and Helen Clarke and Sharon Witt (University of Winchester). Following a ‘Common Worlds’ approach that emphasises enchantment, playfulness and paying attention with the world, both presentations affirmed the centrality of practical wisdoms, positive enquiry, and hopeful geographies. Follow @Attention2Place to find out more about Helen and Sharon’s work, and discover the wealth of insight offered by post human perspectives on teaching and learning about childhood.

Lunch was followed up by a comparative take on supervising children’s geographies dissertations, with Sarah Mills (Loughborough University) and Sophie Hadfield-Hill (University of Birmingham). The opportunities and (ethical) challenges posed by dissertation topics created much debate: How might we manage the expectations and experiences of undergraduate researchers? And how can we navigate stringent ethical clearance and protocols to best support our students and their research participants? Sarah and Sophie suggested differently nuanced ways to approach these issues, and, given the wealth of excellent undergraduate dissertation subjects produced to date, foregrounded the significance of sustained research at undergraduate level in carrying the sub-discipline forwards.

To close a day of much discussion, debate and reflection, it was apt that we went for a walk. Or, more specifically, a fieldtrip to Hyde Park. Guided by John’s directions and prompts – a model of active learning – we journeyed in pairs and small groups, chatting, thinking, listening, and observing as we went, contemplating the park and city more broadly as a springboard for questioning. We debated what constitutes ‘children’s spaces’, considered factors that shape children’s use of space (limited or otherwise), and were encouraged to interrogate ways in which children’s lives are shaped by their environments. Arriving back in time for tea (it should be noted that no-one was lost en-route!), it was agreed that today may be a first of many such opportunities to come: to make time and space for collaboration with colleagues beyond our own departments; to enliven, and continue to move the teaching of children and youth geographies forwards.

]]>https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/01/28/report-on-successful-teaching-gcyfrg-workshop-on-10th-january-2018-educating-under-and-post-graduate-geographers-for-about-using-the-geographies-of-children-and-youth/feed/0gcyfrgCfP for Children, Youth and Families Research Group (GCYFRG) sponsored sessions at the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2018https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/cfp-for-children-youth-and-families-research-group-gcyfrg-sponsored-sessions-at-the-rgs-ibg-annual-international-conference-2018/
https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/cfp-for-children-youth-and-families-research-group-gcyfrg-sponsored-sessions-at-the-rgs-ibg-annual-international-conference-2018/#respondTue, 09 Jan 2018 14:18:53 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=755Continue reading →]]>The Royal Geographical Society Annual Conference will take place from Tuesday 28 August to Friday 31 August 2018 in Cardiff.

Abstract:
‘Unfamiliar landscapes’ are places young people are introduced to, voluntarily or otherwise, by a range of actors. Unfamiliar landscapes include green and blue spaces that many young people cannot experience independently, because they are difficult to access, or because they are not skilled in traversing them: mountains, hills, forests and waterways, but also places that, although familiar, become unfamiliar as sites for formal or informal learning, about ecology, heritage or wellbeing.
Some argue such landscapes only recently became ‘unfamiliar’ to many young people. There has been considerable societal concern around young people’s access to nature, their freedoms to roam independently (Smith and Dunkley 2017). This has led to various claims about possible negative effects of ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ (Louv 2008) on their wellbeing (Witten et al. 2013). Much of this concern focuses on children, rather than the more ‘difficult’ category of ‘Youth’. Equally, such concern neglects the plethora of services and organisations (schools, youth service providers, the outdoor education sector) that have long been introducing youngsters to unfamiliar landscapes. In the age of austerity and accountability these services find themselves under increasing pressure, with likely consequences for whether, how and where youth are introduced to unfamiliar landscapes.

This session will explore how introductions to ‘unfamiliar landscapes’ are caught in a number of contemporary tensions between youth, society and the environment, and how young people navigate this terrain. Themes include:

sanctioning contemporary landscapes as appropriate or otherwise for youth to engage with ‘nature’ and ‘the outdoors’,

organisations and individuals enabling youth to acquire skills and techniques for acting in unfamiliar landscapes,

contrasting familiar and unfamiliar landscapes, how they are discursively and practically made (un)familiar to youth,

ways young people understand and experience introductions to unfamiliar landscapes,

the role of youth organisations, professionals and volunteers, including relationships between these organisations and young people,

the culture of accountability, evidencing and evaluation, and implications for youth provision working with unfamiliar landscapes.

We welcome contributions from both researchers and practitioners who work in the youth or outdoor sectors, broadly defined. We will run two sessions – the first a paper session (15min presentations) followed by a practitioner forum in the form of a round table including invited practitioners from youth organisations and specialist youth workers.

Abstract
The present political moment has precipitated intense debate about children’s mobility across borders. Our session will contextualize this crisis by bringing feminist geopolitical thought to bear on questions about children’s engagement with geopolitics. Feminist geography has reshaped geopolitics by foregrounding intimate and embodied workings of geopolitical power (Dixon 2016, Hyndman 2004). This scholarship highlights young people’s agency in (re)producing geopolitical knowledge (Smith 2011, Skelton 2010), and shows that ‘childhood’ itself is co-constituted with geopolitical discourses (Kleinfeld 2009, Joronen 2016).
We invite papers that examine children’s experiences as migrants, as having been ‘left behind’ and/or as dwellers in border-zones, as well as work that highlights the geopolitical stakes of ‘childhood’ as a legal and social category. Questions we hope to raise include:
• How do we rethink feminist geopolitics through the perspective of childhood/youth?
• How do border zones unsettle/reconstitute boundaries of childhood, gender and race?
• How do imperialisms shape children’s experiences of geopolitics?
• How do mobile youth and children create political solidarities? Do they produce geopolitical knowledge?

Abstract:
This session will focus on relationships in terms of their analytical potential to understand identity, place and difference in multicultural societies. We are interested in exploring diverse forms of relationship narratives, spaces and normativities; we are also eager to focus on how relationship stories related to dating, marriage, friendship, family, intergenrationality, gender and sexualities can reveal the contested nature of household formation and family dynamics as well as broader debates relating to multicultural citizenship and everyday senses of belonging. Taking narratives, spaces and normativities as a point of departure – this session invites papers that explore the different ways in which young people from diverse religious, ethnic and cultural backgrounds tell stories about their personal relationships and in so doing contest normative constructions of family, sexuality and intimacy. Papers can focus on (though need not be limited to) the following themes:

4. Tear down the walls! Cross-disciplinary engagements with geographies of education and learning, Geographiedidaktik and young people’s geographiesConvenors: Dr. Itta Bauer, University of Zurich, (itta.bauer@geo.uzh.ch)
Dr. Matt Finn, University of Exeter, (M.D.Finn@exeter.ac.uk)

Abstract:
The starting point of this session is Doreen Massey’s argument that stimulating intellectual developments particularly come from “places where boundaries between disciplines have been constructively breached and new conversations have taken place” (Massey 1999: 5). We seek to cross boundaries between geography, social and cultural studies, didactics and pedagogy by promoting an “engaged pluralism” (Barnes and Sheppard 2010) of new ideas of research and teaching in the geographies of education and learning. These boundaries may have been built (and increased) on the premise of different languages and publication cultures or various forms of academic socialization and network commitments. Our hope is that by focusing on “connecting things”, we may actually renew the debate on “geography without borders” instigated by Castree, Fuller and Lambert (2007) but the promise of which remains unrealized.
To work towards this unfulfilled promise, we would like to explicitly invite contributions from geography, learning and didactics (Geographiedidaktik, didactique de la géographie, etc.). Issues like e.g. sustainability and learning (BNE) (Bagoly-Simo 2013; Widener, Gliedt and Tziganuk 2016), citizenship education (Jekel, Gryl and Oberrauch 2015; Mills 2012), critical and cultural geographies of schools and learning (Mills and Kraftl 2016; Noethen and Schlottmann 2015; Schreiber, Stein and Pütz 2016; Schröder 2016), or new socio-technical innovations in geography education (incl. MOOCS, GIS, GPS, and social media) certainly are interesting intersections that offer common ground for cross-disciplinary fertilization. The session opens up a space where the many existing (at times parallel) discourses may benefit from an open-minded exchange of ideas, theories, practices, and policies of research. It is our intention to productively take the discourses elsewhere (Gregson and Rose 2000): from a national to an international audience, from the narrow borderlines of disciplines to a exchange among (and beyond) geographers with various interests and backgrounds and live up to the claim of a geography that is not only transgressing, but actually may indeed be undoing borders

Broadly speaking the sessions will consider

What can be learnt through bringing geographies of education, young people’s geographies and geography education into dialogue?

How might the concerns and debates in international literature and language traditions, challenge and enliven Anglophone/international work and vice versa?

We would like to invite contributions that engage with these themes through issues such as, but not restricted to:

Spatial citizenship, geo-spatial learning and geocapabilities

Space, place and learning about geographies of difference, including education concerning gender, race, sexualities, dis/ability

Governmentality and sites of learning

Positionality of students, teachers and researchers exploring the possibilities and challenges of working at the borderlines of geography and didactics

Geo-politics of education, learning and geographical knowledge

Assemblage approaches to young people’s geographies and to their education and learning

Critical geographies of education, learning and young people including but not limited to responses to austerity, racism, and consumer culture.

We would particularly like to support participation from people of contexts affected by inequalities that make attendance challenging. We can explore means of achieving this, which could include pre-recorded video presentations or skype presentations.

5. The absent presence of children and young people in everyday landscapesConvenor: Professor John McKendrick, Glasgow Caledonian University, (jmke@gcu.ac.uk)

Abstract:
Tensions abound when making sense of children and young people in everyday environments. While some lament the withdrawal from public spaces of children and young people, particularly their independent (of adult) presence, others seek to curtail and constrain this on account of the dangers they are perceived to present and face. Similarly, multiple interpretations can be drawn from what are widely understood as “children’s spaces” in the built environment, with the playground, for example, understood by some to celebrate and valorise children’s right to public space, while others perceive it to be a tool to corral and constrain. Or, does social media usage among teenagers constitute an absence-with-presence in the everyday environment or might it be a means to achieve presence-using-absence? These substantive issues are of interest to those who are concerned with the quality of children’s lives as lived and wider issues pertaining to childhood and society. These are also issues that have a wider theoretical reach. Do our understandings of childhood influence adults in “children’s spaces” when children are not present? Is there an absence of children, but an ever-present of childhood? Does the absence of children from everyday environments leave our understandings of childhood open to misinterpretation? This session seeks to advance our understanding of the everyday landscapes of childhood, reflecting on the substantive and theoretical challenges that present through children and young people’s absences and presences.

Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to John McKendrick (jmke@gcu.ac.uk) by Friday 2nd February 2018. This should include title, author affiliation and email address.

Abstract:
Vertovec’s (2010) notion of ‘super-diversity’ has come to define contemporary Western societies. Alongside ethnocultural, socio-economic and religious diversity markers, other social identity markers such as notions of ‘hyper-diversity’, intersectionality and multiple inequalities, have prompted a broadening of conceptual understandings of diversity. Within higher education (HE) discourses, understanding diversities is recognised as vital to emerging academic and policy agendas (Valentine & Harris, 2016), particularly in terms of what we might consider ‘landscapes’ of (in)formal educational spaces (e.g. teaching spaces, libraries, accommodation, leisure spaces, Students’ Unions, chaplaincies etc.). As Holloway et al. (2010: 588) attest, HE institutions are embedded within “wider sets of social relations, [yet are] always in the making and thus potentially open to change” in relation to a multilayering of diverse cultures. This reflects not just official policies but also informal educators’ practices and diverse students’ cultures and experiences. Universities are consequently prominent spaces for the socio-cultural development of young people, influencing knowledge and identity formation; shaping behaviour and skill acquisition through formal and informal curricula (Collins & Coleman, 2008; Cook & Hemming, 2011; Gill, 2016; McCreary et al., 2013). This session will therefore seek to explore these changing landscapes of HE to critically examine the role of universities in preparing the new generation for ‘conviviality’ (or togetherness) (Nowicka & Vertovec, 2014) in multicultural societies.

Based on this, we invite contributions that examine how diversity is experienced and/or managed by the multiple actors involved in (in)formal HE spaces. This might include, but is not restricted to work attending to:

the experiences, emotions, lifestyles, perceptions and behaviour of diverse students preparing for, studying in, or reflecting up their university education;

a range of spatial scales of HE, from the locality of institutions to the intersections of global higher education networks;

a focus on inequalities in higher education that might impact upon opportunities for diverse students/academics.

Abstract:
This session seeks to further ways of theorising as well as interrogating existing conceptual tools surrounding geographies of ‘youth politics’, broadly defined as the relationship between young people and their engagement with and/or performance of politics, specifically within Asia. While the majority of scholarship on youth politics focuses on the European and American contexts (Gordon, 2010; Kennelly, 2011) or on the Arab Spring (see Foran, 2014; Hanafi, 2012), 60 percent of the world’s youth reside in Asia (United Nations 2013). But how youths are to be positioned within the political domain of Asian societies remains an unresolved issue that have led to the eruption of youth-led contestations within the region’s urban centres, as seen from with the longstanding anti-government and anti-corruption protests across Indian, Thai, and Indonesian cities, and from the 2014 Sunflower Movement and Umbrella Movement in Taipei and Hong Kong respectively (Hsieh and Skelton, 2017). In addition to exploring youth politics, this session addresses the significance of the ‘urban’ by exploring the diverse but interconnected context of urban Asia, moving beyond the dominant geographical impressions, conjurings, and forms of cities. We are particularly keen to reframe urban contexts not just mere backdrops of youth actions, but as participants towards the making and shaping of youthful civic actions, activisms, mobilisations, and protests.

We envisage the session as an interdisciplinary platform to discuss and reflect on three central questions that would invigorate existing scholarship on youth, politics, and urban Asia:

How do youth politics emerge and manifest in Asian cities, in both historical and/or contemporary contexts, and in relation to diverse forms and expressions of what constitutes the ‘political’ for the young?

What is the role of cities in shaping, informing, and mediating youth politics, if we imagine urban contexts as actively (re)producing action and life itself?

Is it possible to conceive of a critical landscape and/or topography of youth politics in and across Asian cities, while acknowledging its multiplicities and specificities?

We invite papers that offer fresh materials, theoretically and empirically, towards advancing existing scholarship on youth politics in/across Asian cities, specifically with reference to the three central questions we raise in this session. Finalised list of session presenters are expected to submit a 4000-word working paper nearer to the conference date. This is to facilitate session discussion as well as publication plan for special issue.

]]>https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2018/01/09/cfp-for-children-youth-and-families-research-group-gcyfrg-sponsored-sessions-at-the-rgs-ibg-annual-international-conference-2018/feed/0gcyfrg2018 Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG): Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group (GCYFRG) – Call for session proposalshttps://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2017/11/21/2018-annual-conference-of-the-royal-geographical-society-with-the-institute-of-british-geographers-rgs-ibg-geographies-of-children-youth-and-families-research-group-gcyfrg-call-for-session-pro/
https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2017/11/21/2018-annual-conference-of-the-royal-geographical-society-with-the-institute-of-british-geographers-rgs-ibg-geographies-of-children-youth-and-families-research-group-gcyfrg-call-for-session-pro/#respondTue, 21 Nov 2017 16:19:17 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=741Continue reading →]]>The Committee of the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group (GCYFRG) is pleased to announce a call for sessions to be sponsored by the GCYFRG at the 2018 Annual Conference of the Royal Geographical Society with the Institute of British Geographers (RGS-IBG). The research group aims to raise the profile, perceived value and understanding of geographies of children, youth and families within academic geography and beyond.

GCYFRG members and those of the geographical and related communities are invited to propose sessions. We welcome joint sessions with other research groups. Proposals should relate to our general interest in the geographies of children, young people and families (https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/about/), ideally linking this to the 2018 conference theme (although this is not absolutely necessary).

Sessions may take the form of presented papers, panels, practitioner forums, discussions or workshops. Innovative sessions and formats are encouraged. A small number of sessions containing Skype or other distance presentations can be supported.

The Chair’s theme for 2018 is deliberately broad to encourage a wide range of diverse perspectives. For more on this see Professor Paul Milbourne discuss the theme here

To propose a session to be sponsored by GCYFRG, or for questions about GCYFRG sponsored sessions, please contact Tracy Hayes, GCYFRG Conference Officer at tracy.hayes@cumbria.ac.uk.

Session proposals will be reviewed by members of the GCYFRG committee, and you will be informed by the end of December if your session will be sponsored by GCYFRG. You will then be able to circulate a call for papers for your session.

Proposals should be submitted by 15 December 2017 and should comprise

(i) Title of session, with Name and Contact Details for Session Convenors.
(ii) Name of Co-sponsoring groups, if applicable.
(iii) Abstract, outlining scope of session – max of 300 words.
(iv) Number of session timeslots that are sought – usually a max. of 2 timeslots per session, with each timeslot comprising 100 minutes.
(v) Indication, if known, of preferred organization of session, e.g. 4 x 20min presentation, plus 20min discussion or 5 x 15min presentation, with 5min question for each, etc.
(vi) Indication, if known for any non-standard arrangements, e.g. video-conferencing.

Please note that an individual may not normally make more than two substantive contributions to the overall conference programme.

]]>https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2017/11/21/2018-annual-conference-of-the-royal-geographical-society-with-the-institute-of-british-geographers-rgs-ibg-geographies-of-children-youth-and-families-research-group-gcyfrg-call-for-session-pro/feed/0gcyfrgRGS 2017 GCYFRG sponsored sessions reportshttps://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2017/11/15/rgs-2017-gcyfrg-sponsored-sessions-reports/
https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2017/11/15/rgs-2017-gcyfrg-sponsored-sessions-reports/#respondWed, 15 Nov 2017 23:48:45 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=739Continue reading →]]>After a successful RGS annual conference this year we are happy that we could present in many GCYFRG affiliated sessions. For those who could not participate this year or did not have the chance to visit certain panels, please find here reports of some of the sessions:

BackgroundMany scholars have argued that, in contemporary society, higher education policy and practice have both been profoundly changed by globalising pressures. Indeed, some have contended that the state’s capacity to control education has been significantly limited by the growth of both international organisations and transnational companies and that the three traditional models of university education in Europe (Humboldtian, Napoleonic and Anglo-Saxon) have been replaced by a single Anglo-American model, characterised by, inter alia, competition, marketisation, decentralisation and a focus on entrepreneurial activity. Nevertheless, this analysis is not universally held. For example, not all European nations have sought to establish elite universities or maximise revenue through attracting international students, and significant differences remain in the way in which higher education is funded. In explaining such variations, scholars have pointed to differences in political dynamics, politico-administrative structures and intellectual traditions, as well as the flexibility and mutability of neo-liberal ideas themselves. However, research to date has focussed primarily on the extent of convergence (or divergence) with respect to top-level policies; as a result, little work has explored the perspectives of social actors, nor the ways in which policy may be ‘enacted’ locally, in ways that diverge from formal policy documents.

In our two sessions at the RGS-IBS conference, we sought to bring together papers that explored the ways in which ‘the higher education student’ is constructed across different spatial contexts. We hoped that they would speak to debates about what it means to be a young person within the contemporary university, as well as to those that relate more specifically to the geographies of higher education.

Papers presentedWe were able to accommodate ten papers across the two sessions and, as the list below attests, they were wide ranging in their focus. A number of the presentations explored the way in which mobile students, in particular, are understood. Rika Theo and Maggi Leung’s presentation examined the precarity of some mobile students, particularly those for whom overseas study is a form of exile, while Sylvie Lomer focussed on the construction of mobile students in UK policy documents, and Nancy Amoudi on the construction of mobile Palestinian students. Yvonne Riano’s paper provided a detailed account of study-to-work policies for international students in Switzerland.

Other papers focussed on national constructions – with Lene Møller Madsen (with Lars Ulriksen and Henriette Tolstrup Holmegaard) examining the ways in which assumptions about students (or the ‘implied student’) affect their experiences of teaching and learning in Denmark, Rachel Brooks exploring the construction of students as ‘vulnerable’ in English policy documents, and Graeme Mearns and Peter Hopkins assessing how social and spatial relations are constructed (but also contested) by students from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds at an English higher education institution. Richard Budd adopted a comparative approach, exploring the differences between dominant constructions of students (and university more generally) in England and Germany. Taking a slightly different perspective, Mark Holton presented a fascinating analysis of the way in which university halls of residence can impact on the construction of student friendship groups, while the paper by Peter Kraftl and Gavin Brown argued for an emphasis on the concept of ‘cohort-ness’ in understanding students’ lives.

Overall, we were extremely pleased with the variety and quality of the papers presented, and the interdisciplinary nature of the sessions – with presenters from education and sociology, in addition to geography. We would like to thank those who spoke, as well as those who came along and participated in the lively discussion. Last but not least, we are very grateful to the GCYFPG for sponsoring the two sessions.

Academic mobility and precarity: study abroad as escape or emplacement among political actors (Rika Theo and Maggi Leung, Utrecht University, The Netherlands).

Implementing Study-to-work Policies for International Students in Switzerland: To what Extent are Federal Policies Re-interpreted at the Local Level? (Yvonne Riano, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland).

The construction and spatial positioning of higher education students in English policy documents (Rachel Brooks, University of Surrey, UK).

2) Contextual safeguarding: Approaches to exploitation and abuse of children and young people beyond the home’
Convenor: Jenny Lloyd, jenny.lloyd@beds.ac.uk, University of Bedfordshire

This month the Contextual Safeguarding Team held two sessions at the Royal Geographical Annual Conference on ‘Contextual safeguarding: Approaches to exploitation and abuse of children and young people beyond the home’. The two sessions were sponsored by the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group and aimed to bring together practitioners with academics to talk about new research and approaches to working with children and young people. Holding the sessions at a geography conference provided an excellent opportunity to talk about some of the ways that different spaces and places are important to how we understand and respond to different forms of abuse and exploitation. The seven presentations highlighted the importance of approaches to child protection that understand the context of where abuse occurs. There were clear links between the papers: the role of agency and choice in how young people make decisions and how this impacts the support they receive; safeguarding in different places and how we create environments that challenge abuse and protect young people; finally, how different methods and participation with young people can help develop innovative approaches to safeguarding that value young people’s experience and knowledge. The day started with an overview of what contextual safeguarding is and the role that geographers have to be contributing to research and practice in this area. I highlighted how geographical research could support practitioners to learn more about the different spaces young people spend time in and how to capture this in assessments.

The second paper was presented by Caroline Andow from the University of Winchester and Ben Byrne from Surrey County Council. Their paper provided fascinating insights into the different routes young people take into different types of secure accommodation. The research was based on case reviews of 69 young people in secure accommodation. They found that young people following the youth justice and welfare routes had similar backgrounds, experiences and needs but that factors such as gender were likely to have an impact on what type of secure accommodation they ended up in. Joanne Walker (University of Bedfordshire) presented new research on harmful sexual behaviour in schools. In particular, she highlighted how young people are adapting to unsafe environments by developing their own techniques of safe-keeping. She concluded by questioning the appropriateness of male-dominated environments and emphasised the role of inspectors to ensuring safety for all young people.

The final paper in this session, presented on video by Sarah Lloyd (University of Huddersfield) looked at the differences between how social workers talked about sexual abuse of young people in the home versus outside of it. Her paper raised important questions of agency and choice – suggesting that choice is often associated with blame. Carlene Firmin (University of Bedfordshire) explored the potential use of using transport data, bus route journey data in particular, to advancing the safeguarding of young people on public transport networks. Presenting findings from a large data set consisting of 11 million bus journeys by young people she highlighted the opportunities data sets have for understanding how young people are vulnerable to abuse in different places and opportunities for engagement and intervention.

A highlight of the sessions came from presentations from the Kirsche and Keeley two members of the Youth Research Advisory group (YRAP). Their talk highlighted the many ways that young people can inform and strengthen research and practice through participation. Speaking about their own experiences on two studies – Be Healthy and Marginal Gains – they spoke about how youth participation is valuable to young people and provided advice on how best to engage and value young people’s voices through research. The final paper of the day by Korinna McRoberts (University of Applied Sciences, Potsdam) looked at the institutionalisation of childhood sexuality. Using the UN convention on the Rights of the Child her paper highlighted the need for legislation that recognises the multiple ways that young people live and their rights.

There was an excellent response to this call for papers, which provided scope for two sessions offering a variety of perspectives on the interlinking concepts of nature, rurality and education. Session one comprised five papers and revolved around themes of formal education and youth. This included the historical and contemporary uses of nature in an educational setting (Sarah Sheridan; Jo Hickman Dunne; Helena Pimlott-Wilson & Janine Coates), and constructions and understandings of rurality and nature (Anne-Cécile Ott). There were also some innovate methodologies used to explore young people’s relationships with nature through encounters with food, water and energy (Peter Kraftl, Joe Hall and Sophie Hadfield-Hill). Session two was made up of four papers which placed an emphasis on the broader embodied experiences of nature and rural space. The concept of nature and rurality as an arena for character education was discussed (Sarah Mills; Francesca Church), as well as young peoples’ experiences in national parks (Ria Dunkley & Thomas Smith). The session was rounded of by a consideration of the spatio-temporal entanglement of humans and non-humans through the spectacle of the starling murmuration (Andy Morris).

The respective papers raised diverse points of discussion across the overarching themes, and all contributed to a vibrant environment for discussion and feedback. The kind co-sponsorship of the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group and Social and Cultural Geography Research Group made these sessions possible.

In our call for papers for this session we highlighted that the UNCRC calls for listening to ‘all’ children’s voices, and ensuring their full participation in matters affecting them. This includes the ways in which children are able to make use of the environment they inhabit to exercise their right to holistic growth and development. Recognising two inter-related issues that are essential to fulfill children’s right to play in their environments as: (1) ensuring that voices of ‘all’ children are heard; and (2) taking action to improve the environment to support their play. How do we bridge research and action to exercise children’s right to play? We asked the questions as to how do we talk with and listen to people from different age groups and diverse abilities? And how do we then address those desires and needs in the environment? Particularly, how do we ensure participation and engagement of children with different abilities in creating opportunities and spaces for them to play? We invited presenters to respond to the conference theme of decolonial geographical thinking, whilst addressing these questions in a way that highlighted both different methodologies of working with children of different ages and abilities; and practical ways of engaging children in improving their play, leisure and recreational spaces. Presenters included Eifiona Thomas Lane, Shelly Newstead, Sarah Holloway, Helena Pimlott-Wilson and Patrizio De Rossi reporting on projects from across the UK. We plan to invite participants (attendees and presenters) to submit their work for publication in an edited collection, alongside contributions from sessions at RGS-IBG 2016 and from other interested academics and practitioners. We were delighted with the mix of presentations that spanned the fields of practice and academia and which generated lively and topical debate, and gratefully acknowledge the support of the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group.

‘Other Childhoods’: Theories, approaches and Methods was run over two sessions at the RGS-IBG 2017 annual conference. Convened and chaired by Nadia von Benzon and Catherine Wilkinson, the sessions addressed research with children who might be considered to sit outside a heteronormative construction of childhood. In practice this means that these sessions focused on children who are not typically reflected in cultural and media representations of children and youth, and for whom social policy including educational curricula, laws and welfare might not be well framed. The two sessions included a wide range of empirical and theoretical contributions addressing a variety of global contexts including Bolivia, Bangladesh, Malta and Australia. A variety of intersectional identities were also explored including childhood disability, minority religious and ethnic identity and street-connectedness. Whilst the themes addressed in each paper were engaging in the specific insight they offered into the experiences of a particular, under-represented, group of children or young people, the breadth of foci served to highlight the shared experiences of stigma, isolation and precarity, experienced by children who do not fit. We have plans to publish an edited collected including the work of presenters, attendees and other interested researchers.

Is it for me?This GCYFRG workshop is for anyone who is interested in using research on the geographies of children and youth in their teaching.

We will be exploring issues such as:

How to use doctoral research in undergraduate teaching?

Should we be delivering modules on the geographies of children and youth? And if so, what makes for a good module?

What practical exercises work well in class?

What works well in fieldwork?

How can we embed the geographies of children and youth in more general geographical teaching?

In short, this workshop is for you whether you are a postgraduate student, early career researcher/lecturer, or an established academic!

How can I register for the event?Please complete the booking form available here
Please register for the event by Friday 17th November.

How much does it cost to register?We are charging a nominal fee of £20 (£10 for postgraduate students / unwaged) to cover costs, which includes lunch and refreshments. Those in receipt of a travel bursary (see details below) will not need to pay the registration fee.

Is there any funding available?We are particularly keen to involve early career researchers and, with the support of RGS-IBG, are able to offer a limited number of bursaries of £50 towards travel costs. These will be allocated to postgraduates, those who are unwaged or on fixed term contracts on a first come, first served basis. If you are unsure of your eligibility, please contact Helena Pimlott-Wilson (H.Pimlott-Wilson@lboro.ac.uk)

If you would like to apply for the bursary, please provide the following information when returning your booking form: (i) Confirmation that you are either a postgraduate student, unwaged or on a fixed term contract (ii) Estimate of how much it will cost you to participate; and (iii) Estimate of how much your funder/institution will be able to contribute toward your costs.

Can I make an active contribution?As a workshop, the focus of the day will be on doing and discussing – everyone will be active on the day! Although the day will be framed by presentations, it is first and foremost a workshop where we can share good practice and discuss key issues. We are particularly keen for contributions, which:

Demonstrate class-based exercises with students;

Discuss the transfer of doctoral research into geographical learning activities;

Consider the design of full- or part- modules in children’s geographies

Showcase field trails and other field-based activities

In terms of presentations, we also invite contributions, which explore the extent to which, and ways in which, undergraduate geography students:

Engage with the lives of children and youth through their studies (about children and youth);

Apply their geographical learning to improve the lives of children and youth (for children and youth); and

Utilise understanding of the lives of children and youth to enhance their geographical understanding (using children and youth).

The schedule will not be finalised until early November, so please get in touch if you have something to offer!

Something to offer – are you a prospective contributor?Please contact John to discuss. jmke@gcu.ac.uk or johnhmckendrick if you would prefer a Skype call.

]]>https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/teaching-workshop-2018/feed/0gcyfrgReport of the 5th International Conference on the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families: ‘New geographies of young people and families in an era of global uncertainty’ (Loughborough University, 25th – 27th September 2017)https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/report-of-the-5th-international-conference-on-the-geographies-of-children-youth-and-families-new-geographies-of-young-people-and-families-in-an-era-of-global-uncertainty-loughborough-university/
https://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/2017/10/20/report-of-the-5th-international-conference-on-the-geographies-of-children-youth-and-families-new-geographies-of-young-people-and-families-in-an-era-of-global-uncertainty-loughborough-university/#respondFri, 20 Oct 2017 10:31:40 +0000http://gcyfrg.wordpress.com/?p=730Continue reading →]]>The 5th International Conference on the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families was held at Loughborough University from 25th to 27th September, attracting around 100 delegates from 18 countries. Addressing the geographies of children, young people and families in an era of global uncertainty, the themes of precarity, futurity, migration and mobilities, inter-generationality and (in)justice were strong throughout the 20 sessions and four keynote speeches.

The conference started with a keynote by Professor Gill Valentine, who gave a powerful talk on the inter-generational and spatial injustices of climate change, drawing on the attitudes of the ‘silver generation’, ‘baby boomers’ and ‘millennials’ in the UK, China and Uganda. The themes of her keynote reoccurred continually in other papers and conversations during the rest of the conference. The morning and early afternoon saw parallel sessions on ‘young people and transnational mobilities’ (convened by Ruth Judge, Matej Blazek and James Esson) and ‘precarious lives’ (convened by Harriot Beazley and Lorraine Van Blerk), followed by parallel sessions on ‘aspirations and transitions,’ and ‘participation and activism.’ The afternoon finished with a fantastic panel session (Gill Valentine, Tracey Skelton, Stuart Aitken, Mark Holton, Peter Kraftl, Lorraine Van Blerk) which returned to Cool Places (Skelton and Valentine, Eds., 1998) and examined the progress of young people’s geographies almost 20 years since publication. A drinks reception sponsored by Springer finished the first day.

source: Darren P Smith

The second day kicked off with a keynote from Professor Anoop Nayak, who spoke on how young working-class youth in the North East of England resist and manage stigma by attaching their own values and meanings to the term ‘chav,’ and reminded us to remember to talk to young people who are ‘stuck’ in place, as well as those who are more mobile. Parallel sessions on ‘young people, community and place,’ and ‘citizenship and its others,’ were followed in the afternoon with the third keynote speaker. Professor Anne Trine Kjørholt discussed her work in rural Zambia which brought grandmother’s stories, songs and memories of childhood into young children’s lives, and spoke of innovative ways to think about inter-generationality and generational continuity in the Global South. This was followed by parallel sessions on ‘interpersonal relationships and emotions,’ and ‘bodies and materialities,’ which led onto a session on ‘mobilities,’ and a panel session on the Springer Volume Geographies of Children and Young People. The conference dinner in the evening was a great opportunity for all delegates to come together, meet new people and to relax.

The final day began with parallel sessions on ‘everyday nationhoods’ in childhood (convened by Zsuzsa Millei and Sabine Bollig), and ‘emerging research in geographies of children, youth and families,’ (convened by Rosie Austin, Laura Crawford and Kirsty Garbett) as well as a methodology workshop (convened by Nadia Von Benzon). The conference ended with a fascinating lunchtime keynote from Professor Peter Kraftl on the future of childhood studies ‘after childhood’.

The conference would not have been possible without the hard work of Dr Louise Holt, the conference chair, the GCYF conference committee, as well as staff and postgraduate students from Loughborough University Geography Department, who manned information desks, chaired sessions and generally made sure everyone had a good time! Thank you to everyone who gave papers, convened sessions and participated in lively and productive discussions. Thanks must also go to the RGS-IBG, the Geographies of Children, Youth and Families Research Group of the RGS-IBG, Loughborough University, Springer, Routledge and Policy Press for their sponsorship of the conference. I would also like to extend a personal thank you to the GCYFRG, whose generous financial support made it possible for me to participate in this conference.

written by Rosalie Warnock, recipient of the GCYFRG conference bursary 2017.
Rosalie Warnock is a PhD student in the School of Geography at Queen Mary University of London. Her Masters research (presented at this conference) explored inter-generational perspectives on work and transitions to adulthood in the London Docklands. Her PhD research examines how vulnerable people navigate ‘advice’ (formal and informal) in order to ‘cope’ in austerity Britain.